Justice Dept. charges Southern Poverty Law Center with financial crimes

A federal indictment in Alabama charges the Southern Poverty Law Center with wire fraud, bank fraud and conspiracy to launder money and names the organization only, not any individuals. The indictment accuses the SPLC of defrauding donors by diverting donations to secretly pay informants who infiltrated extremist organizations. The Southern Poverty Law Center called the investigation politically motivated, and civil rights groups warned the case could chill nonprofit efforts to track extremism.